Shiftr Swipe Left for Love (Hope Valley BBW Online Dating App Romance #5)(2)
“It’s just that I’ve never seen guys this hot in real life before,” Dina said weakly. “But why are you showing them to me? They’re way out of my league.” Lauren shook her head.
“You are so deluded. Ok, I’m going to show you something else now,” she said, and swiped her thumb left on the phone’s screen.
“What?” Dina said, frowning in confusion at the large black bear now filling the screen. Ignoring her, Lauren swiped back up to the brown-haired guy. She flicked her thumb to the left and there was now a big cat in his place. It was black, and green-eyed, and it looked coolly at the camera from its position up high in a tree. Was it a jaguar? Dina wondered dazedly, before Lauren swiped up to the first guy. Again, her thumb moved left, and the shaggy-haired guy was replaced by a large gray wolf, with amber eyes.
“What, so all these guys are nature lovers, or something?” Dina said. Lauren pressed her lips together.
“In a manner of speaking,” she replied. “Did you notice that all of the guys look a little like the corresponding animals on their profiles?”
“Yeah! I guess they do, actually. So the photos are included in their profile to demonstrate their wild side?” Dina said.
“Pretty much. But it’s more than that.” Lauren swallowed. “Dina, what I’m about to tell you is going to sound real crazy, but please bear with me, and don’t freak out.”
“Ok?”
“These guys are all shape shifters. This means that they are half human and half animal, and they can shift between their human and animal sides at will.” Dina’s mouth fell open.
“This is a joke, right?” she said. Lauren shook her head.
“No, it’s for real. It’s a real site, and these guys are genuine shape shifters.” Dina struggled for words.
“This is total nonsense!” she managed at last. “Lauren, you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met. How can you take this crap seriously?”
“I know this site is genuine, because it’s how I met Connor,” Lauren said. “Ok, look.” She rummaged in her purse and pulled out her own phone. Dina watched as she tapped an identical paw print icon on the screen and the app opened. The first thing they saw was a photo of Lauren’s handsome boyfriend. He was posed in a forest, leaning on a tree trunk, and he was also bare chested. Lauren swiped her thumb to the left, and in his place was a dark brown bear. Dina gaped.
“You’re telling me that Connor is half man, half bear?”
“Yep!” Lauren said, her voice full of pride.
“I’m sorry, Lauren, but this is obviously a made-up story. You don’t think he might be a bit of a fantasist?”
“I know it’s true, because I’ve seen him in his bear form,” Lauren said calmly.
“But, what? How?” Dina stammered.
“I knew he was a bear shifter, of course, since we met through the site. And, after a couple of dates, I was dying to see the other side to him. I realized that if I only ever saw him as a man, I was only getting half of him. One day, we went on a picnic in the forest, and he shifted for me. He stripped off his clothes, and one minute there was this hot naked man standing in front of me, and the next minute, there was a huge bear in his place. It was really cool.”
Dina took Lauren’s phone from her and swiped back to Connor, and then to the bear again, and back to Connor. As with the other guys she’d seen, the bear really did look quite a lot like Connor.
“This is the craziest thing ever,” she said. “But why haven’t I already heard that there are all these guys everywhere that are half animal?”
“Because there really aren’t that many, and it’s a closely guarded secret,” Lauren said. “When you sign up to the site, you have to sign a declaration that you won’t tell anyone about shape shifters until you’ve found your match. And then, you’re allowed to tell one person only, once they’ve been pre-approved by the site owners.”
“You had me pre-approved?”
“Yes!” Lauren replied, the edges of her lips curving with mischief. “You’re my best friend, and I knew this would be perfect for you, so you were my first choice.”
“But, how did you get me approved?”
“I vouched for your character, of course, saying what a sassy, cool, warm-hearted woman you are. And I sent them a photo.” Dina’s heart jumped into her throat. She had a deep aversion to having her photo taken, to the point that she’d never even look at photos of herself.
“Which photo?” she asked, her voice taut.
“This one!” Lauren located it on her phone, and Dina forced herself to look. From the long red dress she was wearing, she deduced that it was from the last Hope Valley winter ball. But she had no recollection that the picture had been taken. As usual, she zeroed in on the things she hated about her appearance, like the fact that she was six inches taller than most of the other women there, and her huge boobs and wide hips. But, she had to admit, her hair looked pretty good; her black curls were tumbling around her shoulders, and she was smiling. Her smile was the thing she liked best about her looks.
“This photo got me approved to the site?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes! You look stunning,” Lauren said loudly. “Don’t even think about criticizing your appearance!” Lauren pressed another button on her phone. “Look!” she thrust an email message in front of Dina’s face. It said: